Following its landslide victory in the 12th parliamentary election on January 7, the Awami League is set to form the government for the fourth consecutive time on Thursday.
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is almost certain to take the oath of office as the prime minister of the country for the fifth time. At present, public curiosity is centred on the incoming cabinet, since the Prime Minister has not shared any names or even the size of the cabinet so far, according to several sources at her official residence, Ganabhaban.
The oath-taking ceremony for the new cabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is scheduled to be held at Bangabhaban in the evening.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the cabinet members, as confirmed by President's Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin.
Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain will oversee the ministers' oath-taking ceremony at the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban at 7pm. The ceremony is expected to host around one thousand guests and dignitaries.
The newly elected members of parliament will take their oath in parliament on Wednesday.
The Speaker of the 11th Parliament, Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, will administer the oath-taking for the newly elected members of the 12th Parliament.
After taking the oath as a member of parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay a courtesy call on the President at Bangabhaban in the afternoon on Wednesday.
In the January 7 election, the ruling Bangladesh Awami League secured 222 seats, the Jatiya Party won 11 seats, and independent candidates bagged 62 seats. The Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasod), allies of the Awami League-led 14-party, secured one seat each. Bangladesh Kalyan Party also won one seat.
The Election Commission published the gazette comprising the list of 298 MPs on Tuesday.
Is the Cabinet set for dramatic changes?
After the 12th parliamentary election, a new cabinet will be formed within three days.
On January 8 and 9, just two days after the election, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina spent a very busy time receiving wishes and bouquets from her international and national well-wishers.
From early morning to night, distinguished personalities from various quarters went to Ganabhaban to greet the Prime Minister on her fourth consecutive victory.
In the two days after the election, this correspondent talked with several Awami League leaders and officials of Ganabhaban to know about the new cabinet, but none of them could provide specific information. Instead, all of them expressed their speculations.
Some of them said that a dramatic change may happen around the new cabinet, similar to the party nominations of the 12th parliamentary election. Others said not many changes are coming in this cabinet as it is a government in continuity. A few faces may be dropped, with some new faces included in this cabinet as part of a regular change.
Before this election, when the Awami League declared the party candidates' names, three state ministers were dropped, including the State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, State Minister for Labor and Employment Monnujan Sufian, and State Minister of Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain.
Earlier, due to some controversial remarks, State Minister for Information Dr Murad Hasan lost his portfolio. And in the 12th election, State Minister for Civil Aviation Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman, and State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee were defeated by independent candidates.
Therefore, it can be assumed that some new faces will replace these seven state ministers in the upcoming cabinet.
In addition, some cabinet members' portfolios might be shuffled in the new cabinet.
Apart from this, some newly elected MPs with rich professional backgrounds and some MPs who have been elected for three or fourth consecutive terms with Awami League tickets, including some MPs from Dhaka city, may be seen in this new cabinet, according to ruling party insiders.
Some MPs who have working experience in related sectors before joining politics may get portfolios related to their background in this cabinet, as assumed by some AL leaders.
However, while talking with this correspondent, several members of the incumbent cabinet said anonymously that they were in the dark about the new cabinet as of yesterday night. They were also waiting for news since the cabinet is formed by desire of the prime minister only.